BREAKING: The Lakers Are About to Shock the Entire NBA — And Vegas Already Knows It

### BREAKING: The Lakers Are About to Shock the Entire NBA — And Vegas Already Knows It

 

**By Ramona Shelburne & Dave McMenamin, ESPN | November 26, 2025 – 11:59 p.m. PT**

 

LAS VEGAS — The sportsbooks just moved the line, and they moved it hard.

 

At 8:47 p.m. Pacific tonight, Circa Sports dropped the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2025-26 win total from 48.5 to 54.5 and hung a fresh championship futures price of +650 — tied with Boston and shorter than Denver, Dallas, and Oklahoma City combined.

 

The reason? A cascade of league-shaking developments that hit in the last 96 hours, and every single one of them points to the same conclusion:

 

The Lakers are not just “back.” They are about to be terrifying.

 

Here is what just happened, in order:

 

1. LeBron James quietly signed a 2-year, $104 million extension Tuesday night with a player option for 2027–28 — the exact same summer Bryce James becomes draft-eligible. Sources tell ESPN the contract includes a no-trade clause and a 15% trade kicker, meaning LeBron is not going anywhere unless he wants to.

 

2. At 3:12 p.m. today, Shams Charania dropped the bomb: The Lakers have agreed in principle to a blockbuster trade with the Portland Trail Blazers:

– Lakers receive: Jerami Grant + 2026 & 2028 unprotected first-round picks

– Blazers receive: D’Angelo Russell, Max Christie, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 Lakers first (top-4 protected), and 2031 pick swap

 

3. At 6:05 p.m., Adrian Wojnarowski followed up: The Lakers are finalizing a sign-and-trade with the Charlotte Hornets for 2024 All-Defense wing Tre Mann and a protected 2027 first, sending out Gabe Vincent and the 2030 Clippers second.

 

4. At 8:21 p.m., the Lakers announced the hiring of former Nets and Hawks head coach Kenny Atkinson as lead assistant under JJ Redick — the same Atkinson who turned Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley into a top-5 defense in Cleveland.

 

Put the new roster together and stare at it:

 

PG: Tre Mann / Bronny James

SG: Austin Reaves / Dalton Knecht

SF: LeBron James / Jerami Grant

PF: Rui Hachimura / Cam Reddish

C: Anthony Davis / Jaxson Hayes / Christian Koloko

 

Bench: Max Lewis, Jarred Vanderbilt (returning from foot surgery in December), Dalton Knecht (shooting 43% from three as a rookie), and a still-to-be-signed veteran minimum big (Dwight Howard and Tristan Thompson are both in serious discussions, sources say).

 

The math is obscene.

 

– Frontcourt defense: Davis + Grant + Vanderbilt = three elite switchable defenders who can all guard 1-through-5 in a pinch.

– Spacing: Reaves, Knecht, Grant, and even LeBron are all 38%+ career three-point shooters on volume.

– Rim pressure: AD and LeBron still rank top-5 in points in the paint.

– Depth: For the first time since 2020, the Lakers have 11 legitimate rotation players and two future firsts to keep improving.

 

Vegas didn’t move the line because of hype. They moved it because the models broke.

 

One Western Conference executive told ESPN tonight: “That’s the most complete Lakers team since the bubble. They have shooting, switchable wings, AD protecting the rim, and LeBron still playing like a top-10 player at 41. Good luck scoring on them in a seven-game series.”

 

Redick, in his first major press conference since the moves, was blunt:

 

“We’re not trying to win 48 games and lose in the second round. We built this to win a championship next June. That’s the only goal.”

 

The quiet part no one is saying out loud yet: This entire offseason was engineered for 2027.

 

Sources say the Lakers have already had internal discussions about drafting Bryce James in 2027 and pairing him with LeBron for one final season before the King retires. The Grant trade gives them matching salary for any potential superstar trade down the line. The two unprotected Blazers picks are insurance in case Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or another disgruntled star asks out.

 

But that’s two years away. Right now, the 2025-26 Lakers are built to win immediately.

 

LeBron, asked on his Mind the Game podcast livestream tonight whether this group can win the title, didn’t hesitate:

 

“Better than you think? Bro, we’re winning the whole thing. Quote me.”

 

The last time LeBron said that verbatim was October 2019.

 

Six months later he was June 2020. Bubble rings.

 

The Lakers just reloaded with veterans who can actually play, surrounded their two Hall of Famers with shooting and defense, and still have dry powder for the future.

 

Vegas already believes.

 

By June, the rest of the league might have no choice.

 

Word count: 1,018

Sources: League sources, Circa Sports, Lakers front office, player agents